The present invention relates generally to methods and systems for managing inventories within one or more e-business systems. Such an e-business system may comprise procurement systems, sales information systems, purchasing systems, logistic information systems or supply chain management systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and systems for managing dealer inventories within at least one supply chain management system. One aspect of this invention is the support of an online collaboration between the supply chain management systems.
Today, the success of a business company depends essentially on the requirement that customer demands on goods and/or services be fulfilled precisely, cost-efficiently and in time. Therefore, many companies make use of a supply chain management system to control and optimize their production and delivery processes.
Supply chain management may comprise the process of controlling the flow of goods, services, information and/or finances between the involved parties such as manufactures, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. This process may include, among others, order processing, information feedback, and timely delivering the ordered goods and/or services.
One part of the supply chain management is the administration of the inventory in several warehouses, whereby the warehouses can be located with each participant, e.g. manufacturer, dealer, middleman or supplier which is involved in the supply chain. In this supply chain, a participant can act either as a supplier or as a customer. Each participant manages his own inventory whereby the stock may be located with other participants.